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Early reviews of ‘Cuts Both Ways.’

I’m really pleased with these early reviews of my story in Women Destroy SF:

Heather Clitheroe’s “Cuts Both Ways” is a tale of love and loneliness from the perspective of a traumatized cyborg. It’s also a close examination of what it means to be the Other, which succeeds because it’s not a clumsy stand-in for something that already exists. And yet, while the protagonist’s most defining characteristic (perfect memory recall) does not exist in our reality, the story does address issues that people in different real-world marginalized populations experience: Spencer is both heavily scrutinized by airport security and also doesn’t have the freedom to love. This is the story that I found most emotionally evocative. While you don’t get to know the love interest very well, the longing that Spencer feels is tangible. (link)

And this one:

Spencer is a cyborg spy and that used to be fun for him, though he certainly was never James Bond with circuitry. He’s a skinny man who has to drink Ensure to provide the calories his program needs, he has to put up with strip searches at the airport so the security agents can check out his cool hardware, and he’s tormented by his inability to forget anything, especially after his last mission. In “Cuts Both Ways,” Heather Clitheroe uses a time-honored science fiction trope–the uncomfortable interaction of technology with humanity–in a fresh way. The point isn’t that technology diminishes Spencer’s humanity, but that it makes it impossible for him to distance himself from it. The distance, Clitheroe suggests, is necessary to happiness. Rich sensory and emotional descriptions increase the experience of the story. (link)

The issue is on sale on Lightspeed’s website, and my story will appear for free on June 24 and in its podcast form.